Time Enough
by Candyland
Summary: — Drawn: The Painted Tower — After all is said and done, Iris knows she can count on her friends.


**Title:** Time Enough  
><strong>Author:<strong> Candyland  
><strong>Fandom:<strong> _Drawn: The Painted Tower:_ After her kingdom is overtaken by a king and his evil chancellor, a girl named Iris with a special gift is trapped at the top of a magical tower. You must save her, in what is easily one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. I own NOTHING.  
><strong>Wordcount:<strong> 844  
><strong>Taunt:<strong> My fandom is…oh, hell, who am I kidding, it's non-existent!

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><p>In a flare of light that seemed to vanish almost as quickly as it appeared, it was over.<p>

Iris opened her eyes and blinked at her surroundings. They were familiar, of course. She knew them as well as she knew her own name. After all, every single one of them had come from her own hand and her own pen. Her drawings were her creations and her creations were her friends. Such was her singular power - to draw, and bring those drawings to life within their paintings.

And they were waiting for her, all of her friends inside her works of art. They would hide her and shield her until things could be put to right. The king and his chancellor were still hunting her, seeking to claim her and her unique gift and with it, her birthright, as they had done to her parents and her kingdom. The tower she had called home for so long had likely fallen into rubble, her home was in ruins, and Franklin was still…

She felt a prickling in her eyes and wiped it away. Franklin would be fine. Magic had turned him to stone, and magic could reverse the spell just as well. She would not let there be any other outcome, but there was nothing she could do at this precise moment. First she had to rest and gather her strength and summon her friends. She would need all of their help.

Feeling much better now that she had a plan of action, Iris stretched her arms over her head and turned to make her way down the path. In a few seconds time, she smiled up at the Great Tree. He looked healthy, and so much greener than he had before, when dark magic had kept her away, the evil king's clutches had been closing around her tower, and the combination had been slowly choking the life from her friends.

She smiled and waved up at the tree. His bark-covered face smiled at her. "Iris, you've returned."

"I have," Iris smiled. "We have a lot to do."

"But you are tired," the Great Tree said knowingly. Of course he would know her so well, as he had been born from her imagination. "You must rest, Iris. There is time still. Time enough. Rest now, and when you awaken, we will help you do what must be done."

Iris sighed. She wanted to get right to work and right the wrongs, but she also was wise enough to know that her friend was right. She gave him a sheepish look and conceded the point. "Don't let me sleep too long. There is time, but there isn't that much time."

Another leafy smile. "Very well. Your tree house is still waiting for you."

Now she smiled outright. When she had created the Great Tree, she had done so both to build a forest around him (she had created many wonderful places to visit, but up until creating the Tree she had not had a chance to explore a forest) and to make herself a new hiding place. The tree house was only a house in the loosest sense, as it was more a cubbyhole nestled inside the very trunk of the Great Tree. Many an hour had she passed in there with her books, her letters, and her daydreams.

With a word of thanks, she climbed up to the top, the path of branches one she knew well, and slid down into her hideaway. It was as she had left it, a fact she was thankful for, and she quickly made herself comfortable with a pillow and blanket she had left there during a previous visit. The Great Tree was right - there was time to rest, to gather her strength and her thoughts before they began the task of reversing the destruction the king had wrought on the land.

"Remember. Don't let me sleep too long," she admonished, and she heard the Tree chuckle.

When she awoke, they would gather together - the Scarecrow from his field, the Shaman in his hut, perhaps even the Griffon would help. And she had a friend, one who had struggled up the tower to find her and help her. One more person she knew she could count on.

Secure in this knowledge, Iris slept.


End file.
